In our latest installment of Flashback Friday, we rewind the track and field clock back 25 years, when Camden County rocked Franklin Field.
It's hard to believe that a quarter of a century has already passed since the legendary Erin Donohue of Haddonfield and Dwight Ruff and his Camden teammates threw down stunning performances at the 2001 Penn Relays in Philadelphia.
Donohue, a senior at the time, won the girls' mile in 4:54.15. She then went on to become one of only four American women to capture Penn Relays championships at the high school, college, and professional levels.
In total, Donohue racked up eight wins at Penn, the high school mile, five distance relays with the University of North Carolina, and the Invitational mile twice.
Donohue, a 2008 U.S. Olympian in the 1,500, was part of UNC's epic distance triple in 2003 (4xmile, 4x800, and DMR). Donohue teamed up with Shalane Flanagan, Alice Schmidt, and Anissa Gainey on those iconic Carolina relays.
For all her accomplishments, Donohue, who is now the head girls' coach at Haddonfield, was inducted into the Penn Relays Wall of Fame Class of 2020.
Meanwhile, in the boys' competition at Penn back in 2001, Camden's Dwight Ruff pulled off an amazing double.
First, he won the 400 hurdles in 50.47, which was the state record at the time and still stands as the meet record!! The 400 hurdles haven't been run contested at Penn since 2019. Then Ruff came back to split 47.2 on Camden's Championship of America winning 4x400 team that ran 3:11.30, the state record at the time. The other three legs on Camden's 4x400 were Maurice Young (49.3), Jade Smith (47.5), and John Morris (47.3).
Later that season, Ruff won the 400 hurdles at the USATF Junior National Championships in Richmond, Va., when he dropped his state record time down to 50.37, which stood for 14 years! The very next day, Ruff was in Raleigh, N.C., where he ran on Camden's 4x400 that ran a still-standing NJ record of 3:09.91 to finish first at the adidas Outdoor Nationals! Young led off that relay with a 48.4. Ruff followed with a 46.4, Smith split 47.8, and Morris finished it off with a 47.3 ancho carry.
Make no mistake about it, Erin Donohue and Dwight Ruff are two of the very best track and field athletes to ever pass through New Jersey!!!
